Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor Corrinne Franklin corrinne.franklin@mq.edu.au Contact via corrinne.franklin@mq.edu.au W3A 314 Friday 10am-11am
Credit points	Credit points 3
Prerequisites	Prerequisites 12cp
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description After reviewing the historical, political and sociological context of Indigenous studies in post-colonial Australia we move to a more global perspective. We do this by interrogating various conceptual frameworks that have shaped understandings of colonial encounters between Indigenous peoples and their various colonisers the world over, and conduct some comparative analyses of specific cases. In particular we are concerned with understanding ideas of colonialism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and how these relate to ideas of race and culture.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the ideologies, practices and processes of sustained European imperialism and colonialism
Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the direct interconnection between Indigenous experiences of western cultural domination and contemporary Indigenous counter-discourses and narratives
Ability to understand the social, cultural and political basis of Indigenous critiques of colonial discourses and practices
Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Due
Assessment 1	30%	27th March
Assessment 2	35%	Ongoing
Assessment 3	35%	11th June

Assessment 1

Due: 27th March
Weighting: 30%

This assessment task is designed to allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the key concepts of discourse and representation by applying them to a reading of an image of an Indigenous subject (person), object or cultural practice.

Further information will be available in ilearn.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the ideologies, practices and processes of sustained European imperialism and colonialism
Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the direct interconnection between Indigenous experiences of western cultural domination and contemporary Indigenous counter-discourses and narratives
Ability to understand the social, cultural and political basis of Indigenous critiques of colonial discourses and practices
Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment 2

Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 35%

This task requires students to provide a powerpoint (or similar) presentation of one of the weekly topic, along with presentation notes (eg your speech notes) and reference list.

Further information will be available in ilearn

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment 3

Due: 11th June
Weighting: 35%

In your analysis you are required to evaluate the representational practices used in the film and to consider their effectiveness in challenging dominant popular cultural stereotypes and generic images of Indigenous peoples and their cultural practises both in film and in everyday life.

Further information will be available in ilearn.

Please note that late submissions will incur a one mark per day penalty.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the ideologies, practices and processes of sustained European imperialism and colonialism
Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the direct interconnection between Indigenous experiences of western cultural domination and contemporary Indigenous counter-discourses and narratives
Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Delivery and Resources

This unit is available to Internal and External students. All reading materials and lectures are available online.

Unit Schedule

Week 1	Introduction: What is Indigenous Studies? NAKATA, M. 2006. Australian Indigenous Studies: A Question of Discipline. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 17, 3 265-275. **
Week 2	Introduction to the concepts of discourse and representation. GROSSMAN, M. & CUTHBERT, D. 1998. Resisting aboriginalities. Postcolonial Studies, 1, 1 109-124. SUTHERLAND, C. 2005. Nation-building through discourse theory. Nations and Nationalism, 11, 2 185-202. ** DODSON, M. 2003. The end in the beginning: re-(de)finding Aboriginality. In: GROSSMAN, M. (ed.) Blacklines. Contemporary Critical writing by Indigenous Australians. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. 25-42**
Week 3	Colonialism and Postcolonialism LUNGA, V. B. 2008. Postcolonial Theory: A Language for a Critique of Globalization. Perspectives on Global Development & Technology, 7, 191-199. ** WALSH, A. N. 2002. Visualising histories: experiences of space and place in photographs by Greg Staats and Jeffrey Thomas. Visual Studies, 17, 1 37-21. **
Week 4	Australian Colonialism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries BROOME, R. 1994. Aboriginal Victorians: a history since 1800, Sydney, Allen & Unwin. 45-70 REYNOLDS, H. 2006. Resistance: Motives and Objectives. In: REYNOLDS, H. (ed.) The other side of the frontier : Aboriginal resistance to the European invasion of Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Week 5	‘Tradition’ and the politics of Indigenous ‘Authenticity’ 2011. Andrew Bolt on Trial. Quadrant, 55, 16-22. RIPHAGEN, M. 2008. Black on White: Or Varying Shades of Grey? Indigenous Australian photo-media artists and the 'making of Aboriginality'. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 1, 78-88.
Week 6	Indigeneity, Photography, Film and Resistance. The politics of visual construction of Indigenous peoples and culture. RECKHARI, S. 2008. The “Other” in film: Exclusions of Aboriginal Identity from Australian Cinema. Visual Anthropology, 21, 2 125-135. WILSON, N. 2011. It's a Wolf thing: The Quileute Werewolf/Shapeshifter Hybrid as Noble Savage. In: PARKE, M. & WILSON, N. (eds.) Theorizing Twilight: Critical Essays on What's at Stake in a Post-Vampire World. North Carolina, USA: McFarland & Company Inc. 194-208
MID-SEMESTER BREAK
Week 7	Representing Indigenous identities and cultures through oral storytelling practices DAVIS, T. 2007. Remembering our ancestors: cross-cultural collaboration and the mediation of Aboriginal culture and history in Ten Canoes. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 1, 1 5-14. HENDERSON, I. 2009. Stranger Danger: Approaching Home and ten Canoes. South Atlantic Quarterly, 108, 1 53-70.
Week 8	Reframing experiences of loss and marginality in Indigenous communities: The politics of youth in Beneath Clouds and Samson and Delilah DIPROSE, R. 2008. "Where' your people from, girl?": Belonging to Race, Gender, and Place Beneath Clouds. Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 19, 3 28-58. KICKETT-TUCKER, C. 2009. Moorn (Black)? Djardak (White)? How come I don't fit in Mum?: Exploring the racial identity of Australian Aboriginal children and youth. Health Sociology Review, 18, 1 119-136.
Week 9	Reframing experiences of loss and marginality in Indigenous communities: The politics of youth in Beneath Clouds and Samson and Delilah COLLINS, F. 2010. After the apology: Reframing violence and suffering in First Australians, Australia, and Samson and Delilah. Continuum, 24, 1 65-77. COLLINS-GEARING, B. 2010. Reclaiming the Wasteland: Samson and Delilah and the Historical Perception and Construction of Indigenous Knowledges in Australian Cinema. M/C Journal, 13, 4.
Week 10	In the news…Indigenous representation and (re)production within the media HARTLEY, J. 2004. Television, Nation, and Indigenous Media. Television & New Media, 5, 1 7-25. MEADOWS, M. 2005. Journalism and Indigenous Public Spheres. Pacific Journalism Review, 11, 1 36-41.
Week 11	Contemporary Representations of Indigeneity LAMBERT-PENNINGTON, K. 2012. “Real Blackfellas”: Constructions and Meanings of Urban Indigenous Identity. Transforming Anthropology, 20, 2 131-145. MACKINLAY, E. & BARNEY, K. 2008. 'Move over and make room for Meeka': the representation of race, otherness and Indigeneity on the Australian children's television programme Play school. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 29, 273-288.
Week 12	Indigenous People: sporting politics GEMMELL, J. 2007. All White Mate? Cricket and Race in Oz. Sport in Society, 10, 1 33-48. GORMAN, S. 2012. Voices from the boundary line: the Australian Football League's Indigenous Team of the Century. Sport in Society, 15, 7 1014-1025. STRONACH, M. & ADAIR, D. 2010. Lords of the Square Ring: Future Capital and Career Transition Issues for Elite Indigenous Australian Boxers. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, North America, 2, June 46-70.**
Week 13	PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the ideologies, practices and processes of sustained European imperialism and colonialism
Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the direct interconnection between Indigenous experiences of western cultural domination and contemporary Indigenous counter-discourses and narratives
Ability to understand the social, cultural and political basis of Indigenous critiques of colonial discourses and practices
Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment tasks

Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Assessment 3

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the direct interconnection between Indigenous experiences of western cultural domination and contemporary Indigenous counter-discourses and narratives
Ability to understand the social, cultural and political basis of Indigenous critiques of colonial discourses and practices
Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment tasks

Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Assessment 3

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment task

Assessment 2

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples

Assessment tasks

Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Assessment 3

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrated ability to critically engage with ideas, practices and representations of and by Indigenous peoples
Advanced your ability to produce effective critically engaged arguments through the use of academically rigorous resources

Assessment tasks

Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Assessment 3

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the ideologies, practices and processes of sustained European imperialism and colonialism
Demonstrated knowledge and scholarly understanding of the direct interconnection between Indigenous experiences of western cultural domination and contemporary Indigenous counter-discourses and narratives
Ability to understand the social, cultural and political basis of Indigenous critiques of colonial discourses and practices
Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities

Assessment tasks

Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Assessment 3

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Ability to understand the social, cultural and political basis of Indigenous critiques of colonial discourses and practices
Ability to critically engage with different Indigenous perspectives and worldviews and the ways in which these have contributed to the construction of national discourses about identities
Developed your ability to challenge and negotiate common cultural misconceptions about Indigenous peoples